


Not-So-Silent Nights

by ByTheAngell (SomeLittleInfamy)



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Background Clary Fray/Jace Wayland, Background Simon Lewis/Isabelle Lightwood, F/M, Gen, M/M, Malec with kids, Multi, holiday fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-25
Updated: 2018-12-25
Packaged: 2019-09-27 03:16:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,079
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17154260
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SomeLittleInfamy/pseuds/ByTheAngell
Summary: The sound of screaming children fills the air, and Magnus & Alexander Lightwood-Bane wouldn’t have it any other way.orMagnus and Alec watch everyone's kids for a weekend.





	Not-So-Silent Nights

The sound of screaming children fills the air, and Magnus & Alexander Lightwood-Bane wouldn’t have it any other way. 

They’ve had this gathering at their Loft every year for the past four years: always planned for a weekend after Hanukkah ends and before Christmas when everyone comes over for a big, family get-together. Izzy and Simon, with two-year-old Helen (when the recently orphaned Shadowhunter had the same name as Simon’s grandmother, who passed away just a few months before, they knew it was meant to be), Jace and Clary with Gideon and Jocelyn, Catarina with Madzie, and finally Luke and Maryse, with a little one of their own growing in Maryse’s ever-expanding stomach. 

They invite everyone over and then, as the ultimate holiday present to their closest friends and family, they allow all of the children to spend the weekend, giving their exhausted and deserving parents the gift of peace and quiet for 48 straight hours. 

They started when Clary and Jace had their first - little Jocelyn, who at 4 years old is far from ‘little’ now - and never stopped, not even now that next year will give them a total of 5 kids for 48 hours to look after. The children love them and they love the chance to properly spoil their nieces and nephews without their parents saying no things like ice cream on waffles for breakfast or spending excessive amounts of money on souvenirs from a trip to the Zoo. 

Once dinner is over, plates stacked haphazardly around the sink and cups (and bottles of wine) finally running dry, their guests begin to file out one by one. Catarina is the first to go, but only because she has a shift at the clinic. They’re a little disappointed she isn’t using the weekend to take time for herself, but no one is surprised. Luke and Maryse follow next, followed closely by Simon and Isabelle who are eager for their first year participating in this particular tradition since adopting Helen. They have a mini-vacation planned overseas for the next 48 hours, which they get started on almost immediately thanks to a portal from Magnus who sends them off with a wink. 

Jace and Clary linger the longest. They see a lot of Jace these days, which wasn’t always true of recent years. Since the time Alec spent weeks (even after extensive healing runes and magic) recovering from the arrow to his chest, and Magnus went an entire year without his magic, Jace spent a long while tiptoeing around both of them. Alec could sense the constant guilt that Jace denied up and down, all while never quite able to make eye contact with either of them.  When Jace refused to so much as go on missions alongside Alec it really threw Alec out of stride, professionally and personally. After a while they stopped trying to convince him that there was nothing to feel guilty for. It took a close call on a mission Alec nearly didn’t make it back from for Jace to realize that after already nearly losing Alec once, missing out on more time with his brother and parabatai was the last thing he should be doing - to either of them.   
  
Now they couldn’t shake him even if they wanted to; not that they wanted to. Since Jace came around and started to rebuild his and Alec’s relationship, they’re closer now than they have been for years. The change in both Alec and Jace is unbelievable, and when Jace and Clary named their second child, their first boy, after Alec, Magnus thought his husband might burst from pride. 

It takes Magnus forcibly shoo-ing the two Shadowhunters out for them to finally leave. “Go on you two, get some sleep.” A knowing set of smirks between Jace and Clary implies that there will be very little actual sleeping, and both Alec and Magnus pointedly pretend to not see it as they leave, closing the door behind them. 

The moment the last of the parents are gone, the Loft erupts into chaos

“I want to watch the movie with the big funny Elf!”    
“Since Mommy’s gone does that mean we can have sundaes for dinner?!”    
“Uncle Magnus, can you make it snow  _ inside _ ?!”    
“WE SHOULD BAKE COOKIES.” 

There isn’t  a quiet moment for the following 48 hours. Even Madzie, normally much more reserved, allows herself to be caught up in it. Settling on a movie and hot chocolate for the first night, Magnus and Alec help the kids erect a pillow and blanket fort in the living room of epic proportions (with the help of a  _ little _ bit of magic on Madzie’s part that they pretended not to notice). It remains up for the rest of the weekend, as base to return to in between other activities. The kids all sleep there, with Magnus and Alec taking posts on the sofas, and it is always the first place returned to after a trip to the big tree in the city, or a meal, or the day at the zoo. 

By the end of the weekend it’s difficult to tell who is more worn out: the kids asleep on the floor of the blanket fort, or Magnus and Alec, who are only a few quiet moments away from nodding off themselves when the others began to arrive to pick their children back up, ending with Cat when she gets off a later shift and takes Madzie with her, leaving the Loft entirely silent for the first time in days. 

After a little clean up they retire to bed, and Magnus rolls onto his back, staring up at the ceiling before closing his eyes slowly. “How are we going to survive next year when there are five of them?” He asks half-jokingly with a chuckle. 

Alec slides under the covers next to him, shifting onto this side to face him. 

“You know, I was thinking…” he starts slowly, in that ‘this-is-important-and-I-don’t-know-how-to-say-it’ way that draws Magnus’ full attention, eyes snapping open as he turns to face Alec. 

“What?” Magnus prompts, wondering if perhaps Alec is considering cutting off the tradition. 

The small smile on Alec’s face is equal parts eager and anxious and hopeful when he continues. 

“...how would you feel about making it six next year?” 

Magnus stares as the words click, and his mouth falls open in surprise before pulling up into a smile. Suddenly more children in their lives doesn’t seem like such a bad thing after all. 

**Author's Note:**

> (Credit for the idea of Jace naming Gideon in honor of Alec goes to @Carmenlire who you should totally check out on here! <3 I love that idea so much and I'm sure I'll be adopting it forever now)
> 
> (Find me on [Tumblr! ](http://bytheangell.tumblr.com))


End file.
